1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to snowboard boots and bindings, and more particularly to straps for use on snowboard boots, bindings and interfaces.
2. Related Art
Snowboarding, which has become an increasingly popular sport, typically involves the a use of a snowboard, a pair of snowboard boots worn by a rider, and a snowboard binding that secures the snowboard boots to the snowboard. While there are other types of snowboard boots, the most widely used variety is known as a soft snowboard boot, which typically includes a soft and flexible upper made from a resilient material (e.g., leather). There are two primary types of snowboard bindings used with soft snowboard boots, i.e., tray bindings and step-in bindings. Tray bindings typically employ a rigid highback into which the heel of the boot is placed, and one or more straps that secure the boot to the binding. Conversely, step-in bindings have eliminated the need for binding straps, and provide the rider with the convenience of engaging the boot to the binding by simply stepping into the binding. Examples of step-in binding systems each of which are assigned to the present assignee and which are thereby incorporated herein by reference, include U.S. Ser. No. 08/375,971, Snowboard Boot Binding Mechanism; U.S. Ser. No. 08/584,053, Method and Apparatus for Interfacing A Snowboard Boot to a Binding; U.S. Reg. No. 5,722,680, Step-in Snowboard Binding; U.S. Ser. No. 08/780,721, Step-in Snowboard Binding.
The development of soft boot step-in bindings has presented a problem not previously encountered. In particular, tremendous lifting forces are generated at the heel of a snowboard rider during riding. It is desirable to prevent the rider's foot, particularly the heel, from lifting from the bottom of the boot to maximize control. In a tray binding, the straps can be tightened down over the boot sufficiently to hold the rider's foot down and prevent heel lift. However, with a strapless soft boot step-in binding, the binding does not employ any straps to perform this function. Although the laces of the snowboard boot are available to resist lifting forces, the laces alone are often not capable of sufficiently holding down the heel of the boot to provide the desired control.
To hold down the rider's heel in the boot, many soft boots adapted for use with a step-in binding employ an ankle strap in addition to the lacing system used to close the front of the boot. The ankle strap is typically a two-piece strap including a ratchet tongue and a buckle mechanism. Each of the two strap components has a fixed end that is attached to one side of the boot, and a free end that is adapted to mate with the other strap component. Typically, the buckle mechanism is a ratchet type fastener to engage with the ratchet tongue, such that when tightening the strap typically involves, a relative sliding motion between the two strap components, with one of the components sliding between the boot and the other strap component.
When tightening a ratchet-type ankle strap attached to the boot in the manner described above, significant frictional forces between the strap and the boot can cause the strap to bear against the rider's foot in a non-uniform way, resulting in high pressure points that can be uncomfortable on the rider's foot. Compounding the problem is the fact that the two strap components lie in slightly different planes (with one component overlying the other), so that the tension extending through the two strap components can cause a moment tending to twist the buckle slightly, which can tend to dig the buckle into the boot, potentially creating another uncomfortable pressure point for the rider.
Two-piece ratchet-type straps of the type described above have also been used to form the straps (e.g., both a toe strap and a heel strap) in a tray binding, and in systems that employ an interface for attaching the snowboard boot to the binding, wherein the strap attaches the interface to the boot. While not as severe as when the strap is attached directly to the snowboard boot, the above-described issues involving the creation of pressure points bearing on the rider's foot can also be experienced when two-piece ratchet-type straps are employed on a tray binding, or are used to attach an interface to a snowboard boot.